Available in the UK from Market Harborough-based Optimax Imaging and Inspection Ltd, is the latest version of the IF-PortableRL from Bruker Alicona, an optical 3-D measurement system for the measurement of micro-structured surfaces in any location. It is at home in the laboratory, workshop, 3-D printing room, or on the road, pavement, or any location where it is necessary to take the measurement of an object.

Based on the Focus Variation principle, first developed by Alicona, the system allows the measurement of both surface finish, microstructure, and surface geometry within a field of view of 50 x 50mm in the X/Y plane up to 26mm high. The built-in X/Y stage allows the automatic scanning of an area producing a 3-D dataset on which measurements are made. Lenses with different magnifications provide a very impressive set of performance figures with a vertical resolution between 70 and 150nm, with line-based roughness measurement down to 0.25µm and areal-based measurement down to 0.13µm.

The instrument can be used on curved or a flat component, depending on chosen options, it can be mains or battery-powered, can be supplied with a custom carry case and a mounting frame can be tailored to suit the application. The large vertical scanning range allows the measurement of various geometry types and forms. Among others, fields of use are platen inspection, asphalt measurement, quality assurance of turbine or rotor blades, and 3-D measurement of steel and body parts.